Columnist John Kelly to leave The Washington Post after 34 years
John Kelly, a columnist at The Washington Post, writing five days a week about people and places in the D.C. area, will be leaving The Post after 34 years.
In a December 10 column, Kelly wrote: “You may have heard that The Washington Post is in a financial hole roughly $100 million deep and to save money is offering buyouts to hundreds of employees in the hopes that 240 of them will take one. I got the email in October. The subject line read: “You are Eligible for the Voluntary Separation Package.”
“I’ve decided to voluntarily separate.”
Kelly’s adds: “I’m fortunate I can leave this job without knowing what I’ll do next — or if I’ll do anything other than watch Netflix. (I was going to say Amazon Prime, but then I’d have to note that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post and interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon’s board.)
“I’m in a much better situation than my younger colleagues who are having to decide whether to take the buyout without the payout and pension I’m entitled to as someone who’s worked here 34 years. I feel for them, as I feel for anyone trying to build a career in journalism these days.”
“Frankly, I’d recently started thinking I needed to slow down. I remember thinking how ancient my predecessor Bob Levey was when he took a buyout in 2004 and I took over this column. Bob was 58. I’m 61.”
Kelly will leave The Post later this month.
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